Recently, as the use of mobile communication terminals, including smart phones, smart pads, and the like, has rapidly increased, operations for driving applications through functions of corresponding terminals by users have become popular. To this end, a user accesses a communication service providing server or an application providing server to download, install, and use a package of an application which can implement a function which the user desires to use. The package may be defined in units of applications, which can be executed within the terminal. In order to install one application, one or more packages may exist.
A package installed in the terminal based on Android, which an operating system of a mobile communication terminal, may include an “active” state in which an application corresponding to the corresponding package can be driven, and an “inactive” state in which the application has been installed but cannot be driven anymore. The “inactive” state refers to a state in which a user setting for the corresponding package is still maintained in a storage space of the terminal, but cannot be loaded to a memory or cannot be driven. The package installed in the terminal based on Android exists in one of the two states.
Meanwhile, applications that can be installed in the corresponding terminal may be classified into a charged service, which can be used after the cost is paid, and a free service which can be used without separate costs. Since the application corresponding to the free service does not require payment, the corresponding user may often install the application without burden even though the application does not need to be installed specially. Further, although the user has installed the application corresponding to the free service in the corresponding terminal and does not use the application anymore, the user does not recognize the necessity to remove the package, so the package continuously remains in an installed state in many cases. Among packages installed in the terminal, there is an application which may be automatically executed when the terminal is turned “ON” or an application of which an operation state cannot be recognized by the user even though the corresponding application is being executed. In this case, resources required for processing calculations for a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a memory, or the like within the terminal may be occupied by the application or mobile data may be used according to the use of a cellular data network such as Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE) or the like. Accordingly, power of the terminal is consumed and a charge for mobile data is made. Therefore, a method of managing applications which have not been used for a predetermined period among applications installed in the corresponding terminal is required.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.